17 October 2006

My current favorite word game is TextTwist. You are given a bunch of letters and within the allocated amount of time you must make up as many words as possible. The minimum length for a word is three letters long. There's always at least one word that makes use of all the available letters. If you can make that word, then you can advance to the next level, else the game is over, even if you somehow manage to form all the other shorter words. In the screenshot at left, I already guessed shades, sashed, and dashes. To play TextTwist well, it helps to make use of past tense (usually by adding -ed to the verb's end) or plural (usually by appending -s or -es to nouns). You can use the mouse to click on the letters, but if you type faster than moving the mouse, use the keyboard as the game is time-sensitive. When the timer goes down to ten seconds, it starts to make audible countdown sounds, and you better come up with the longest word quick!

I happen to regularly play TextTwist online at GameHouse.com but the game is available elsewhere, too. I currently have 240 points with GameHouse, but I think it's only for fun, no real value. The online version usually has an ad inserted at the beginning - that's how it stays free. If you don't want to slow down by the ad, you can play the offline paid version, called Super TextTwist. A 60-minute time-limited demo is available. Advantages for playing offline include full-screen mode and untimed version. While I can use the full-screen mode as I try not to wear glasses too much while computing, the untimed version is not that advantageous. Lots of time when I am stuck, I'm just simply that... stuck. No amount of time will be enough if you simply don't know the longest word. Having the game ended at some point helps breaking away from the computer, too. I remember when I first bought Bookworm, I spent a few nights playing past 2 am, because I just kept advancing through the levels without getting a burning tile consuming the library in flame. At $20, the game is pretty standard in terms of price. There's even a $7 discount for registering with GameHouse so I am pretty tempted to buy the offline version, but I guess I'll wait to see if by April next year I still have a job or not...

I went jogging yesterday, but probably not for 2K in distance. Universal Pictures was filming a movie called American Gangster in the area of the park that I usually run around. Members of the film crew were all over the area and I had to run at a nearby park. Even then near the end one of the film people asked me to stop running and I had to head back. I logged in about 20 minutes of run time so that should do.

It's hard to get up early in the morning, but it's even harder now when that means leaving one's warm bed. This morning, I did get out of bed, but only to turn off the alarm clock on the cell phone, then went straight back to sleep. I'll try to be more disciplined tomorrow morning. Unless it rains, of course...